Reviewed by USGS40y ago
M5.0 earthquake in Kermadec Islands region
Thursday, February 19, 1987, 09:32:45 UTC · 28.034°S, 176.196°W
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck in Kermadec Islands region on Thursday, February 19, 1987, 09:32:45 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on February 10, 1987.
- Magnitude
- 5.0
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
477 tons of TNT
That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
35 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Kermadec and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 684 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.01976 Kermadec Islands, New Zealand EarthquakeJanuary 14, 1976 · 150 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7Kermadec Islands regionOctober 20, 1986 · 19 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands regionFebruary 27, 1955 · 67 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Kermadec Islands, New ZealandNovember 16, 1917 · 257 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands regionSeptember 14, 1959 · 134 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3Kermadec Islands, New ZealandMarch 26, 1963 · 261 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3south of the Fiji IslandsJanuary 20, 1970 · 258 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2Kermadec Islands regionJuly 2, 1974 · 119 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1986M8.1
Raoul
20 Oct 1986 · 19 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1976M7.9
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 177 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1917M8.0
Kermadec Islands
1 May 1917 · 152 km away
tsunami
- 1955M7.8
Kermadec Islands
27 Feb 1955 · 68 km away
- 1976M7.8
Kermadec Islands
14 Jan 1976 · 233 km away · intensity VIII
- 1959M7.7
Kermadec Islands
14 Sep 1959 · 94 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.